METAZOA INSECTA. 445 



Anthonomus signatus Say (PL 1129, figs. 1-4, greatly en- 

 larged), although only one tenth of an inch in length, is 

 an extremely clever insect and exhibits the characters of 

 the family. 



The female, with her long snout, parts the petals of a 

 nearly matured bud and in the hole thus made deposits 

 her egg. The sepals and petals close, never to open into 

 a blossom. The beetle then crawls, according to Chitten- 

 den, to the stem below the bud and with her microscopic 

 but scissors-like mandibles cuts it in such a way that the 

 part bearing the bud hangs by a mere shred and soon 

 falls to the ground (fig. i, showing buds ready to fall). 

 The development of the bud is thus arrested long enough 

 for the larva to feed on the pollen and the food is kept 

 moist by the earth. The larva (fig. 2, full grown) is foot- 

 less and fleshy tubercles have taken the place of the 

 jointed legs. After devouring the pollen, it feeds upon 

 some of the harder parts of the bud. In three or four 

 weeks it utilizes the more or less hollowed-out bud for a 

 cocoon, transforming to a pupa (fig. 3) and finally to a 

 beetle (fig. 4) . The latter feeds a few days upon the 

 strawberry blossoms but seldom eats the leaves and never 

 the fruit. It would seem that hibernation begins in July, 

 as the beetles are seldom seen after the middle of this 

 month. 



The structural features seen in the strawberry weevil 

 are peculiar to most weevils. The larvae are footless 

 though sometimes tubercles or bristles are developed. 

 The young larva of Epicaerus imbricatus Say (PI. 1130, 

 fig. i, side view of young larva; fig. 2, adult, both en- 

 larged), has a pair of stout bristles on each thoracic seg- 

 ment, and these aid in locomotion. In the adult the head 

 is extended into a longer or shorter snout, which carries 

 the straight or elbowed antennae. The mouth parts are 

 usually reduced in size and are borne at the end of the 

 snout. The latter organ is of unusual interest, since it 

 has acquired the function of an ovipositor, and for this 



